Electoral bonds: DMK lists Future Gaming, Megha Engg as top donors
Future Gaming and Hotel Services donated Rs 509 crore to the DMK through electoral bonds since 2019-20, with Megha Engineering & Infrastructures contributing another Rs 40 crore to Tamil Nadu's ruling party, showed data released by the Election Commission of India on Sunday.
The latest information is based on disclosures of donors' names by a few political parties to the poll panel. Most beneficiaries of the electoral bonds scheme, including the BJP, All India Trinamool Congress, Congress, BRS and BJD, did not disclose the names of donors.
While Future Gaming was the top buyer of electoral bonds, Megha Engineering was the second biggest, data from the commission revealed earlier.
The DMK's main rival, the AIADMK, received donation of Rs 5 crore from cricketing league franchise Chennai Super Kings through electoral bonds, according to the data.
Karnataka-based JDS got Rs 40 crore, about half of its funding, through electoral bonds from Megha Engineering.
Jammu & Kashmir's National Conference declared it had received Rs 50 lakh from Bharti Airtel, while the National People's Party said it did not receive any funding through electoral bonds. The Sikkim Democratic Front declared receipt of Rs 50 lakh by this route — a chunk of it from Alembic Pharmaceuticals.
Data showed BJP encashed electoral bonds totalling Rs 6,986.5 crore, topping the list of political parties that benefited from the now-scrapped scheme. Of this, Rs 2,555 crore was received in 2019-20.
Disclosures mostly by regional parties
Trinamool
